Freedom of speech is the air that any thinker breathes; it’s the fuel that ignites the fire of an intellectual’s thoughts.
 
Many human rights organizations believe that freedom of speech is a basic human right, and they call upon the Arab regimes to reform their policies when it comes to freedom of speech. As a human being, you have the right to express yourself. You have the right to journey wherever your mind wanders and to express the thoughts you come up with along the way. You have the right to believe, and to atone, the same way you have the right to love or to hate. You have the right to be a liberal or to be an Islamist.—Raif Badawi, “1000 Lashes Because I Say What I Think“

If you believe freedom of speech is a precious commodity, “the air” we need to breathe, the most dangerous and assertive act you can perform in the name of that freedom is to keep using it, to keep at it. To keep writing.
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UPDATE, January 28, 2016: Two statements have been published on Raif Badawi’s official Twitter account in the last two hours. (There are embedded below the fold).

One reads, “#RaifBadawi is attempting a strike again for not letting him and 120 other prisoners to use the phone to contact their families.” And the follow-up states, “A call out for the Head of KSA Prisons General: Ibrahim Hamzai to stop the negligence in Dhahban Penitentiary.”

Today is Raif Badawi’s 1344th day in prison for writing. Even in prison, officially silenced, he is not silent. I will update when I receive a second source. The Tweets:
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